It made my eyes sting just by standing still. He stood there for an extra 10 minutes without a mask on, and his throat tingled.
The ground was also empty. The players briefly came out to the ground to practice defense and catch, but then went into the locker room. The coaches were all wearing masks, and the players trained while wearing masks. Yellow dust from China covered the Korean Peninsula, turning the atmosphere yellow. The second regular season match between Kiwoom and Doosan, which was scheduled to be held at Jamsil Stadium on the 12th, when outdoor activities were difficult due to acrid dust, was canceled at 5:20 pm, 1 hour and 10 minutes before the start of the game. The reason is fine dust. This is the first time this year that a game has been canceled due to fine dust, and the 16th in history. It has been 1 year and 11 months (704 days) since the match between Doosan and KIA, which was scheduled to be held at the Gwangju-KIA Champions Field on May 8, 2021.
Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop said, “The health of the players comes first, so today’s training was short indoors. Only some pitchers who need long toss and some fielders who need defensive training came to the ground for a while.” Coach Lee also watched the players while wearing a mask. In fact, the time Doosan players took to the ground was about 15 minutes. After all training was over, catcher Yang Eui-jiman briefly came out to the ground for a run wearing a mask, but most of the players stayed indoors. 안전놀이터
The same goes for Kiwoom, who arrived at the stadium at 4:20 pm. Usually, the pitcher and fielder team form a circle in front of the dugout, shout fighting, and then warm up in the outfield, but this day was not seen. Kiwoom coach Hong Won-ki said, “The Futures League was canceled due to fine dust, but it doesn’t make sense for the players to come out and train.” Director Hong said, “I understand that there are guidelines according to the concentration of fine dust in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regulations.”
Article 27 of the KBO League Regulations, whether or not the game is canceled due to weather conditions, is a fine dust advisory (PM2.5 (ultrafine dust) 75㎍/㎥ (microgram per cubic meter) or PM10 (fine dust) 150㎍/㎥ or more ) lasts for more than 2 hours’ and ‘when the fine dust warning (PM 2.5 150μg/m3 or PM10 300μg/m3 or more) lasts for more than 2 hours”. On this day, in Songpa-gu, Seoul, where Jamsil Stadium is located, the concentration of PM10 continued for more than three hours at 325 μg/m3.
“We decided to cancel the match because we judged that it was not appropriate to play the game in its current state and comply with the rules,” said Park Jong-hoon, the match supervisor. Commissioner Park watched the concentration of fine dust in real time, and at 5:00 p.m., he came out to the ground to check the condition.
Doosan announced Kim Dong-ju, who was the starter that day, and Kiwoom announced An Woo-jin as the starter for the match on the 13th instead of Jang Jae-young. Doosan, with foreign pitcher Dylan Pyle missing from the rotation due to injury, is in a situation where the rotation cannot be shaken, and Kiwoom, who is losing a losing streak, is a choice that has to change the atmosphere by injecting an ace.